Continental GP Attack & GP Force

Pros

Specific front and rear dedicated tyre.

Cons

None to be found.

Review

German tyre maker Continental is one of biggest players of the bicycle tyre industry, established in 1892 and still going strong. Conti tyre’s are ridden by many of the top professional teams, and lots of races have been won on them.

The latest update from the German company is for the front/rear tyre combination called the GP Attack and GP Force 22m-front and 24mm – rear. tyre’s designed by Continental with the intention of using them together on your bike. The theory is that the 22mm front will allow you a lower rolling resistance whilst being streamlined cutting through the air.

Personally I like these tyre’s for grip and use them when the road turns a little moist. The rear has provided me with more comfort on my alloy road bike without losing any speed.


According to the technical gurus at Continental, "Steering and braking forces are transmitted on the front, whilst the rear transmits the driving forces and bears the majority of the cyclist's weight."


The Download


The front tyre is the GP Attack, is a foldable 700x22C consisting of 3 plies/ 330 Tpi + Vectran Single Breaker/ Black Chili Compound. This is considered quite high for a clincher, and in general, an increased TPI means a suppler tyre and lower rolling resistance. The surface of the tyre is smooth, bar the light tread pattern. The GP Attack weighs 190g, which puts it on the lighter end of the racing tyre scale. That low weight is partly down to the Attack's 22mm profile. Continental believes the 22mm width is the optimum balance of rolling resistance (which increases as tyre’s get narrower) and aerodynamic drag (which decreases).

The GP Force is a much larger than the Attack, and weighed in at a very light 210g. At 24mm, the GP Force is slightly wider than the Attack, this is due the rider's weight will be greater in the rear.

The GP Force has an equal TPI count of the GP Attack, with a 3-ply design totalling 330 TPI. Its tread pattern is more marked and quite different from the Attack, in that the tread lines are basically perpendicular to the direction of the tyre. Both tyre’s now incorporate Vectran and Black Chili technologies providing better handling whilst providing ample service life. The tyre’s are available in black, /black only.

The Test

We tested a set of tyre’s in Australia, over a period of one month putting 1,225 km on the set in various weather conditions and road surfaces. In the wet they gave me complete confidence that I was not going to end up on my ass if I lent the bike over into a corner. This took me a couple of corners a various speeds to feel comfortable enough to test out my impressions. You do not want to go into a corner hot on new tyre’s when you don’t know what they are capable of yet. Dry rough country roads smooth hot mix surface these Conti’s held their head up high and were accountable for performance handling and speed.


How is the wear?


Rear tyres will always wear faster than front ones. This is due to the blatantly obvious that your butt sits over the back wheel ad its where the power drives through and on the odd accession you might lock up the rear brake causing a bit of your tread to be left on the road after a car decided it was far more important than you. After 1.225 km the Rear tyre only just started showing signs of flattening out. This is probably the only down side to the front and rear dedicated system. So you will replace the rear more often than the front.

How did they go?

The Conti GP Force and Attack tyres performed so well I now have fitted a new pair to my race wheels. Yes I train on training tyres and only race on race tyres.
Under racing conditions, the tyres also performed well. I was able to lay the bike over in the last corner in excess of 60km, having no apprehension whatsoever about the tyres holding. Mind you it was dry and I would possibly be going a tad slower in the wet.

So what is my Verdict?

Go and do yourself a favour, buy a pair.